The invention is concerned with a novel attachment device for use in combination with a pump operating as a tracheal aspirator for sucking and collecting secretion from the oral cavity of an unconscious person and separating large solid particles from the aspired air and from any such liquid secretion as flows to the normal secretion reservoir of the pump.
Tracheal aspirators of the presently used type normally consist of a vacuum pump, the intake opening of which is connected to an airtight collection bottle for aspirated fluid, to which collection bottle a flexible tube is connected. At the end of this tube a tapering suction tip is attached, which can be introduced either directly into the patient's mouth or be connected to a thin extension tube, a so-called suction catheter, capable of being inserted deeper into the airways.
Tracheal aspirators of the type mentioned are all designed with the purpose of effectively removing secretions in liquid or gel form. This purpose is reflected by the fact that the inlet opening of the suction tip inserted into the patient's mouth is designed with a small diameter. This factor permits a high air speed to be obtained at the tip, with only a limited flow of suction air, this high air speed being of decisive importance for the effective drawing-in of material located at some distance from the opening, in cases when the tip cannot be completely submerged in the secretion which is to be removed. On said type of known aspirators the tube connecting the suction tip to the collection bottle is also of relatively small diameter, for the following functional reasons:
(1) The tube must be sufficiently flexible to enable the operator to work the suction tip accurately in the patient's mouth. The larger the diameter, the more unwieldy the tube. PA1 (2) The secretion drawn-in should be transported as quickly as possible to the collection bottle, this being best achieved by a high air speed in the tube, i.e. small diameter. If the tube diameter is too large, some of the secretion will settle and, when pumping ceases, run back out of the suction tip.
When treating victims suffering from respiratory failure, it is often necessary to rapidly remove large quantities of vomitus and blood containing relatively large, solid particles of food and coagulated blood. In aspirators normally used, these particles will be trapped in the suction tip and block the suction. Up to now such particles have had to be scraped out by hand, a both time-wasting and ineffective method.